Unwanted Love
by Emilypumkin
Summary: Jacob Black is decidedly heartbroken and doesn't want another girl now that Bella is gone. He has better things to do and has to deal with a new family with a secret but what happens when he imprints on the family's only girl?


Jacob Black

It was hard picturing a life with anyone other than Bella Swan…well, Bella Cullen as of two summers ago. These two years just sort of passed through in a fog. Almost as if I don't remember waking up every morning. I still keep up, but everything seems so hazy. Like I'm just in some weird dream and I'll be waking up next to her any minute…But then again, I have to face the reality of the situation. I can see how happy she is with the bl-….Cullen, and realize as much I wanted her to be mine; I wouldn't cut her off - as Embry would say - from her life support. I could never do that to her. I know what it would do. I've seen it. I'd never want to see her crawl back into that frail state. It would kill me before it would kill her (I hope).

Since the Cullens had added two new additions to their coven, we haven't had too many disturbances. Every now and then a newborn would show itself, but they were all taken care of. It's been about eight or nine months seen a vampire. Newborn, or…otherwise. Life seems to be closing in. It's my senior year of high school, and I'm still just 16. Quil and Embry haven't changed a bit either. I don't know how Paul managed to get his stupid ass held back. I mean, he can be pretty dumb, but twice? That's gotta suck, and to be honest, I didn't think it was THAT likely that he'd have to repeat his senior year twice.  
Things didn't really start getting different for me until about mid March. There were a few rumors about three new students: sophomores. From what we heard, they were almost taller than us, but I'm sure that was an exaggeration. It's really hard to top a werewolf's height unless you're a werewolf yourself, and that obviously wasn't likely. The next pack wasn't within miles of here. Looks like someone's been dipping into the steroids. Whatever. We'd find out soon enough, just like everyone else.

It was a Friday. Me, Embry and the others got ourselves some lunch and placed ourselves in our usual spot: in the courtyard, behind the benches. This is where those who the entire school knew but really didn't want anything to do with sat. We were popular, but intimidating. Therefore, outcasts….sort of. "Dammit, we've got like nothing to do anymore," grumbled Embry between bites of his sandwich. "There's no reason to patrol, we've gone swimming every day for the last month, and quite frankly I'm gettin' sick of it, and bottom line….this town is just so frigin boring! Anyone have any ideas?" The four of us were silent. Everyone but myself and Embry continued eating. He was right. This place _was_ boring. I'd give anything to be somewhere else right now. And I know exactly where and with who. But it wasn't possible. I needed a distraction.

Paul suddenly got the urge to put in his own two cents. "Even if you're right, what difference does it make? If we can't think of anything, then there's obviously nothing to do, dumbass. You said it yourself." Paul didn't really have to say it, but it was true…I hate admitting when he's right. He's a real pain sometimes. Quil now felt obligated to throw himself in and defend Embry. "Oh, sure, _he's _the dumbass. Here you are sitting with us: Your 6th year in high school. And yet, Embry's the stupid one? Anyone else see anything wrong with this picture?" Everyone tried to stifle their laughter between bites. Paul's fist shook with a blind fury, his eyes shooting daggers at the source of the insults.

Thanks a lot, Quil.

I tried my best to get Paul to calm down. After a few minutes, it worked, but there was no doubt I'd be seeing the whole incident running through his head the rest of the night (depending on if we decided to phase or not that evening, of course. And I bet anything I'd never here the end of it from Leah either). I tuned myself out from Paul and Quil going at it. Seth tried to stop the fight, but then it turned on him, or at least from the buzzes I heard, that's what it sounded like. Poor kid. Embry had his attention turned my way. I could feel his eyes on me, but I wouldn't look at him. I stared at anything I could avoid getting thrown into the situation. Posters asking to "vote Megan for VP" were crowding nearly every wall. The snack machine and its colorful paint chipping off. The bland walls…

This school needs more color.

It took me a few minutes to realize the topic in our group had changed. I zoned in only to realize that everyone was speechless. Embry's eyes were no longer fixed on me. Instead, he followed where the other's vision aimed. I followed their stares, and suddenly realized what the shock was caused from.

Two of the new guys were walking past the classroom doors on the opposite side of the courtyard. They TOWERD. The rumors were true: they were almost as tall as us. Maybe even taller. As far as height goes, it was almost like looking in a mirror.

The much thinner, lankier-looking of the two looked like one of those awkward teenage cutesy-boys in the chick flicks you see. Like the best friend the girl always falls in love with (hardly the same in my case). His hair was shoulder length, angled over his eye. Light brown with gold streaks. It didn't suit him completely. He wore a green and black style jacket and a red shirt with skin tight black jeans. It really wasn't that cold, so I guess the must've moved from somewhere down south to be wearing coats.

The other one seemed to have more meat on his bones. It was almost intimidating. He had dark, wavy hair cut just below his earlobes. He had on a heavy gray jacket I'd expect someone-humans, I mean- to wear in winter. He kept his hands in his pockets and kept walking on the left of his friend. He had a certain look on his face. Like he was constantly frustrated.

We kept staring to see if we could find something more interesting about them, other than their choice of fashion. Suddenly, two girls appeared into view. They were paying almost no attention to the fact that they were about to have a head-on collision with the giants. They didn't seem to give a rat's ass either. Obviously, they weren't going to move. Road hogs, no doubt. One of the girls brushed past the heftier one, throwing him off his trail. She shot him a dirty look and he sent one back as if he were going to tear her to shreds right there in front of everyone. The other boy did nothing. The partner of the unfortunate girl started to pull her away and she soon trailed behind. I was able to catch their whispers. Seems I wasn't the only one who thought they were stuck up jerks.

_"Who the hell was that?"_ Muttered the opposite party of the collision. Her friend was quick to answer. Quite the little gossip starter. "_Two of the new kids: the Prebisque boys. Everyone's absolutely terrified of them. You ran into Marcus. They say he got kicked out of his old school for killing a guy, and that's why they all moved here. His other brother that you saw was Ezekiel. He's supposedly some sort of kleptomaniac. "_

"_I wouldn't doubt it. Is all his family that messed up?"_

"_I'm not sure, but a bunch of people at Herrington know his sister. They say she's slept with a few of her brothers."_

"_With those two for brothers, a whore in the family wouldn't surprise me. They're all a bunch of freaks."_

I guess I wasn't the only one listening in on the conversation. The grey jacketed one, Marcus I think, made a sudden change in direction. He faced the girl's back as she walked on, almost as if he was about to pounce and attack. Ezekiel grabbed his arm, an almost shocked look on his face. I heard him mutter "No" a few times under his breath, trying to keeps his brother under control. And then, we all saw it.

A shudder. A wild set of chills rippling through his body, from his spine all the way down to his heels. I could feel the suspense coming from the group of friends around me. We could almost see traces of fur making themselves known along his cheeks and on his hand. He fell to his knees grasping either side of his head, making slow breaths to regain his control. Ezekiel murmured something about an order, and it was all too soon that I realized it. Marcus wasn't just some angry kid: He was an angry werewolf, ordered not to phase. He was in pain because of the injunction handed out to him by whoever his pack leader might be.

Eventually, it came to the point where Ezekiel towed Marcus off somewhere no one could spot them. They didn't attract much attention other than the five of us peeking from behind the benches. Embry and Quil were both ecstatic to meet them. Seth felt slightly intimidated, and Paul...well, he couldn't really give a shit less. I was curious though. I wondered what a new werewolf pack would need to move so up north for. Furthermore, why wouldn't they be allowed to phase? Maybe the leader was afraid of competition. Whatever it was, it would be a smart idea to get them on our side before someone else could. That's what Sam would do.

Not long after, lunch ended, and we all had to separate and head to the next class. Algebra: Hell on earth. Not only were none of my friends in this class, but the teacher, Mr. Angeles, spoke in continuous monotone. Almost like he was sick every day of his life. If not for my dad, I'd be using this time to catch up on all the sleep I've missed. That should make up for a few months, or at least, it would feel that way.

The pre- lecture syndrome was definitely spreading like an epidemic. Everyone walking around the class, throwing balls of crumpled note paper around, and an air-guitar performance being staged by the dope heads in the back. I placed myself in my regular desk two rows up from the back next to the only empty seat in the room. I laid my head down on top of a stack of books and folded my arms over my face. I was beyond exhausted. I couldn't get any sleep the night before, and we didn't even patrol. I was just tossing and turning trying to find a comfortable way to sleep, and it never came to me. Though maybe it was because I had been thinking about _her_ again…

My dad warned me it was unhealthy. I knew she could never be mine like she could be Edward's. And now that she was one of them, that made it a definite sign to stay away. Far away. I thought it would be easy, what with her new smell. But I was wrong. She was just as addicting as before, only now she reeked. Lately though, I haven't been able to get her off my mind. Leah wouldn't leave me alone about it. Quil tried to set me up with a few girls, but it never worked out. In truth, I just wasn't the same. And more than anything, I envied those who had imprinted. In a weird way, though, I considered myself lucky. If I had imprinted on a girl, not only would I be confined to that person, but it would only prove that without the existence of this magic, Bella and I could be together. That would be a major slap in the face.

My thoughts were interrupted by a large shadow blocking the sun in the window from hitting my face. Aggravated, I looked up to see the curtain cutting off my spotlight. There was now a thick gray jacket sprawled on the floor underneath the once-vacant desk on my left. A tall, muscular figure in a rusty shirt threw an over-stuffed backpack on the back of the plastic chair. I could hear a low growl come from his throat as Marcus Prebisque took his spot next to me.

Shit.

The one thing I was not in the mood to deal with right now was an angst-driven werewolf. It was almost half as bad as dealing with Paul on Taco Tuesdays in the cafeteria. Even though me and Marcus hadn't officially met yet, I got the feeling he didn't want to make any friends. He knew what me and the others had witnessed not long ago. He was angry with us and himself but, regardless, I had to get him, his brother, and the rest of their pack on our side (not that we needed it, but Sam would gather anyone he could).

I hadn't really noticed when class started, but for once, I tried to keep my focus on the board. I didn't realize how right the rumors would be. This guy WAS intimidating. He had to be if I was afraid of him. But WHY was I afraid of him? I couldn't figure it out. So, I did the one thing I thought I would never get the chance to. I shot him a short glance, almost without moving. His head faced down, concentrated on his barren desk. I could see his eyes through small splits in his wavy hair: Deep brown with a furious red glow. I followed down from his face. I could've sworn I'd seen a vein popping in the muscles of his arm through his shirt. I could see his hands on his desk. They must've been sweating, because as he kneaded his fingers across the desk, the left tiny streaks that dimmed the shine the sun cast on them. I could hear him trying to breathe normally. The breaths scratched in his throat like a demon clawing its way out of hell.

He was struggling.

He was angry.

I must've had a death wish for doing what I did next.

"Mr. Angeles," interrupted a low husky voice.

"Yes, Jacob, what is it?"

His eyes turned to my face. He knew what I was going to do. His eyes were furious. I stood up to face the guillotine.

"Marcus isn't feeling well. I'm gonna take him to the nurse."

Marcus flinched with irritation. For a minute, I almost hoped Mr. Angeles wouldn't give me permission.

I slip my head in the hole.

"That's fine. Try to be quick, Mr. Prebisque. Missing material on your first day wouldn't be the wisest thing to do."

The blade rises

Marcus sighed and pushed himself up and out of the desk. I walked towards the door and placed my hand on the knob. I open the door and Marcus frustratedly pushed himself past me. I shut the door behind the both of us.

The blade falls, and my head rolls off the scaffold.

I decided to walk a ways down the hall before saying anything. There was no doubt my other werewolf brothers, or maybe his, were in the building and could hear whatever we would say. It seemed as though he had the same plan as me, and so, I let him walk again. Maybe I was wrong. I had really tuned out all the whispering around me because I had been so scared of him. Perhaps someone in class was whispering about him and his family again. His body suddenly made a sharp turn to face mine. He was furious now. I could feel the heat coming from his breath. It had a hot metal feeling, like I'd just been smacked in the face with a branding iron. Even with me, running on a constant 108, had to feel _that_ heat and wince at the thought.

"If you had any idea what you were causing for yourself," he started, "You wouldn't be here."

Well then. That's a nice way to start a conversation. So, he was considered with my welfare. I guess that was good. I looked up at him with a crooked smile "You can relax. You looked like you were about to kill someone. I'm pretty sure you can't afford any more causalities on your record." Now why the hell did I just say that? Oh yeah: 'Cause I'm an ass. To my surprise, he laughed at me. Guffawed, really. I could see he was still struggling with his control though. His hands never stopped shaking. He finally looked up from laughing. "So you heard that too, huh? In truth, I never killed anyone. I just roughed him up a bit. I can't say the same for you though."

I flinched. _I _flinched. Why was this guy so damn threatening? For crying out loud, I was taller than him, AND stronger! What was wrong with me? I swallowed hard in preparation. "I saw it. What happened in the courtyard earlier with you and that girl." He tensed. This guy was going to kill me. "And I wasn't the only one. My friends saw you too."

"There's a difference between what you _really_ saw and what you _think_ you saw. It was nothing."

"It didn't look like nothing to me. Believe me, it's happened before. I know what it's like."

He scoffed. It seemed he didn't know where this was going. What an idiot. "How could _you_ possibly understand what this is like?" he murmured. He must've thought I wouldn't be able to hear him.

"Because….I'm a w-……..I'm a-…."

That damn order. I had completely forgotten about it. My mouth opened, but no words would pass through. I struggled, trying to say it again, and in the process nearly coughed up a lung. Marcus looked at me like I was going insane. He wouldn't have to beat me to death. I would choke on my own vomit right here and take care of the job for him. I regained what little control I had left over my breathing. I stood upright and faced him.

Sam never said anything about giving subtle hints.

"Well then…" I began "How exactly should I put this? ...Occasionally…when me and my friends get angry, or sometimes even just for the hell of it…we turn into something…almost hostile. Basically…we're half dog. And I know you and your brother are, too." I looked at his face. His eyes were bulged just a slight bit. His face was stiff with shock. What if he and Ezekiel weren't REALLY werewolves? I just screwed my way around an order to get us exposed then? I'd be banished. Ridiculed. Or worse yet, killed.

Marcus leaned over to place his hands on his knees, and sighed with relief. A light laugh followed behind. The shaking in his hands came to a quick stop. He wiped the sweat forming on his forehead. The sinister, suffocating atmosphere around us quickly began to evaporate. He stood back up to face me with a smile. Just a second ago, this guy was looking at me like I just jumped out of the nuthouse. What made him so damn happy?

"So then. You guys are werewolves too?" he stated. I started looking around, bug-eyed and alarm that someone would be out there listening in. The conversation was casual now. "How can you say that so openly?," I asked. "Wasn't your pack given an order not to tell anyone?" He chuckled a bit. "No. We only need worry about phasing in front of anyone. We're generally good at keeping secrets, so it just seemed like a waste of time to have it dished out."

"Not from what I saw."

"Oh yeah. That. Sorry. I got a little defensive."

"A little?" I scoffed. "I was afraid you wouldn't be able to control yourself. Why didn't you phase though?"

I could see his face drop a bit. "That's one of our only orders," he said dryly. "It's for family reasons."

So I was right about the order. That honestly didn't surprise me. He leaned against the wall and shoved his hands in his jean pockets "So, I take it you guys wanted to form some sort of alliance between packs, right?" Well, wasn't that spot on. I didn't really expect him to figure it out that quick. I didn't have anything to say. I just nodded. "Well, our pack leaders would have to discuss it. My brother would be all for it, but…we have conditions. Like the not-phasing rule."

I could understand that. Sam might have a few questions though. I didn't see what was so important about not phasing. What was the use of being in a pack if you had to avoid the first and foremost reason of its existence? Then it hit me: All of our secrets lain down for everyone to see. Our regrets and fears. Our memories. Everything would be seen by everyone around us. There was something they didn't want us to know or see.

"I see where you're coming from. Sam would have to talk it over with your Alpha."

"Cool. When should we get them to meet? The meeting, of course, would have to be done in human form. Are you ok with that?"

"It's not up to me, it's up to Sam."

"My brother would most likely refuse to meet as his wolf form with…Sam, is it?"

"Yeah."

"Got it. Well, Anyways, my brother takes being human to heart. It's something he can't stomach."

This would be tough. Traditional meetings were usually performed in the clearing in wolf form where we could lay down any bit of information we had to offer. Sam might not have such a problem, I guess, but the other would raise question, and that would cause suspicion. I had to think of a point where the Alphas could meet and the rest of the pack would be in close range to make amends. Then I remembered the discussion we had at lunch. We truly had no reason to patrol, and no one had made any plans. Tonight would definitely work out. For us, anyway.

"Well, I'll talk to the Alpha. I'm pretty sure he'd consent…" I continued. "Come to think of it, me and my pack were just talking about plans for later tonight. We've got nothing to do, so how about then?" His face seemed like one of those playful-serious types. You know, like the monkey- frown type thing? He played off well when he cupped his chin in his hand. "That sounds good." He finally replied. "It gets boring with just be and my brothers. I'd hang out with my sis, but she's got friends coming over for dinner. She doesn't like it when the family interferes with her social life."

"Sounds like _my_ sister. Well, I mean, I'd come over. Quil, Embry and Seth would most likely go wherever I do. Paul, maybe…Collin, Jared and Brady are patrolling tonight, so they'd want to rest up, and of course, Sam would be there."

"Sounds like a plan. I mean, you guys could stay over tonight if you really wanted to. Me, Zeke and Connor would really enjoy the company."

"Alright then, it's settled. My carpool will follow yours home."

"Sweet."

He held out his massive hand to shake my own. It was large and I felt traces of sawdust along his palm. As it turns out, he was a lot nicer than I had taken credit for. Though, I wondered how he had suddenly gone from Kujo to Lassie in 5 seconds flat. I guess I'd ask him later. No sooner had we shaken on our plans, the last bell rang. We headed back to the Algebra room to get our things and head out.

Quil and the others had already been waiting by my car when me and Marcus walked out. I introduced them all to him. Embry and Quil seemed to hit it off pretty well with him. Seth, as usual, let his inner fan-girl take control of him. Poor Marcus. And of course Paul responded as suspected: completely un-frigin-interested. Marcus told us he'd introduce us to his brothers once we got to the house. I got in my car and started the engine. Paul climbed into the first seat, and the other three squished themselves in the back. I could see Marcus sliding open the door of an old rusted van. His brother from before followed after, and another person I hadn't seen.

He had jet black, unkempt hair flowing down and ending near the middle of his biceps. Peach fuzz lined his lower lip. He looked like a weird mixture of the two guys I'd seen earlier today in the courtyard. While most of his exterior reflected Marcus, the serene look on his face reminded me of his other brother, Ezekiel. He climbed into the driver's seat and pulled out. He motioned to me through the windshield to follow him to the exit of the parking lot and turn right. After he pulled out and left the parking lot, I followed his instructions until I was stopped behind the van at a red light.

Paul, surprisingly, was the one to break the silence. "So, where exactly are we going?"

Seth leaned in between the two front seats, giving Embry and Quil more room. "Marcus, Ezekiel and their other brother, Conner, are in the van in front of us," he replied. "They're showing us the way to their house. Sam's gonna talk with their alpha either about forming an alliance…or adding to the pack."

I looked at him, a little alarmed at how much he knew. Him, not so much. "I was three classrooms down," he continued. "I heard everything." …Oh yeah. Werewolf senses. I forgot about that for a minute.

The light finally turned green, and I continued to follow the van. We went far past my own neighborhood, and turned a left at the sign that said we were entering Forks. Quil was beginning to get impatient. Embry's huffing and puffing in the back wasn't really helping the aura of unpleasantness floating in the car, either. "Any idea where they might be leading us?" Quil finally asked. I shot looked at him through my rear-view. "All I know is they live a little bit out of the way," I answered. In truth, I hadn't really been paying much attention to the road. My car sort of pulled itself behind the van the whole time. So when the vibrations of the car began to feel like we were driving over gravel, it took me by surprise. Eventually, the rocking in the car began to give me a serious headache. I heard a loud "pop" come from underneath the car. Either a large rock had flow up and hit the bottom of the car, or we had a flat. It wouldn't be an issue whichever one it was.

The drive started shifting up. The dirt road began to crawl its way upward. At this point, the road was nothing but gravel and dirt traveling up. The only things around us were some fruit trees and a white fence defining the road. We kept heading up the hill until we reached a large clearing, similar to our own. The car was on leveled land now. I could see Quil and Seth's jaws drop in the rear-view mirror. Embry muttered and "Oh my God" under his breath, and Paul was speechless. I looked ahead to see what the big deal was.

A large house, perhaps twice the size of my own, overshadowed the acre surrounding it. It had deep green shutters on the windows and tan siding with a large wrap-around porch .The four highest windows were a blue type of stain-glass. These people must've been rich. They even had a BALCONY for crying out loud! But the one thing that caught my attention most was their garage. It was separate from the rest of the house, but looked like it could be a home in its own. I could a separate car parked inside: a dark green Explorer, similar to the van.

I decided to pull over on the other side of the house. There was an empty space in the garage, and I was pretty sure that was for another car. I drove to the left, put it in park, and stepped out, the sun shining in my eyes. I put up a hand to block it out. Once the glare was out of my way, I could see the scenery. The elevated space where they lived gave them a view of nearly all of La Push. I'd never seen the reservation from a bird's eye view, and I'd never really thought about how breathtaking my hometown really was.

The others got out of the car, and immediately ran to Marcus and the others to tell them just how awesome their house was. I stood in place, still trying to take in everything I was seeing. Eventually a nudge on my shoulder pulled be back to reality. " 'Sup. I'm Conner." I turned to the sound of the voice to see the van's driver. We shook hands and something caught his eye. "Sorry about your tire," he said. "We haven't done any landscaping on the path. It takes a nasty toll on cars." I suddenly remembered that popping sound I had heard on the way up. I glance down to a flat tire.

I shrugged it off. "It's alright. I have a spare in the back, and I could always fix it up later. I'm Jacob, by the way."

"Yeah, I know. I heard the conversation you and my brother were having in the hall. Zack's gonna give him a hard time. He came awfully close to defying the order with that stunt he pulled at lunch."

"Um…Zack?"

"Our older brother. And our Alpha."

"Oh. But I thought injunctions couldn't be disobeyed."

"Marcus has…skill. He's good at getting around orders. "

"What do you mean?"

"Well, let's see…I noticed that Marcus warned you at the beginning. That if you knew what you were causing for yourself, you wouldn't be near him."

I suddenly flashed back to that confrontation in the hall. I remembered how at first I was afraid Marcus was going to rip my head off. _I never killed anyone. I just roughed him up a bit. I can't say the same for you though._ I shuddered. "Yeah, he did," I muttered. Conner chuckled at my response to the memory. He began to walk towards the others, and motioned for me to follow. "Zack gave out an order just before we moved here," he stated. "We were supposed to make sure that anyone that could expose us is…'taken care of'. Not necessarily killed, but handled, by means of violence, if necessary. Marcus was holding himself back until the moment you confessed. He's awfully good at not listening to what he's told."

I knew that a werewolf's main goal was to protect the pack (other than the number one rule of our existence, which most of us had already defied) but I'd had no idea the Prebisque family had taken such extremes as to destroy anyone who could expose them. Did they not realize that could be anyone? Maybe that's why Marcus always looked like he was on edge. Perhaps he knew it wouldn't be not just one person, but everyone he came into contact with that had the potential to expose him and his family. And so, he continuously defied order making sure not to raise suspicion. Worse yet, had he fought me then in there, he might've had to destroy not only me, but himself in the process. We would've both been at fault for exposing one another.

"That's a taking it to a bit of an extreme, isn't it?" I asked. "It's really a common sense thing."

Conner shrugged. I guess he didn't care much about it. "I don't make the rules, kids. I just follow them."

That's accurate. I'd let it drop for now.

We made it up the stairs to the porch where the other had been waiting for us. Marcus asked Conner if he had the key and they got into a tiff about "I thought you had it, no you did, blah blah blah." Ezekiel sighed, reached into his pocket and pulled out his own key. "Nimrods," he muttered under his breath. He slipped his key in the hole, turned it, pulled it out, and opened the door. Everyone trailed behind him as he went in first.

The front room of the house was basically like a parlor. The walls were some sort of tanish-orange color. It sort of hurt my eyes. The arch-like doorway on my left opened up to an office with deep green walls. The desk was covered with random stacks of paper, files, and God knows what else overlapping over each other. I took a few steps, just being nosy, and felt someone catch my shoulder and pull me back. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, stop. You don't go in there," Marcus's voice warned me. "That's Zack's office. One-hundred percent off limits, k?" Oh. Well screw that. I nodded and backed off, my attention now drawn to the wall on the opposite side, covered with family photos. There were tons of pictures of boys. Three or four first communion photos, pictures of family outings on the beach, and one picture with five boys surrounding a hospital bed, a woman, who I assume was their mother, laying in the bed with a baby in her arms. I could easily pick out Marcus, Ezekiel, and Connor from the bunch. When this picture was taken, the three of them were toddlers. The two other boys I didn't recognize. One of them looked maybe ten, the other about half his age.

Did they have MORE brothers? What happened to his sister? Poor kid. This must be how Leah feels. At least their sister only had to deal with five werewolf brothers, as opposed to eight of them. Maybe this baby in the picture was another boy. If it was, this house was a raging pool of testosterone. I couldn't imagine what a girl could feel like living in one, though maybe I didn't want to. I looked around to find another picture. The one I finally stopped on sort of caught me off guard. It was a little girl with a wide smile, missing her two front teeth. She had long, dark brown hair tied up into thin pigtails with blue ribbons. She was standing at someone's doorstep in a Dorothy dress with a Jack-O-Lantern bucket in one hand, and Conner holding her other."Hey, Marcus, who is this?" He walked over to me. I pointed at the picture of the little girl. He chuckled a little. "That's our little sister, Sloan."

I guess it wasn't so bad if a seven year old pig tail-wearing kid was living with 5 boys. There really wouldn't be reason to get testy until she hit puberty. That'll be a barrel of laughs for everyone living there, wouldn't it? Five boys having to deal with raging hormones, break ups, crying, mood swings, and cramps. Sounds like fun. But then, I thought back to the gossip I'd heard earlier that day:

_a bunch of people at Herrington know his sister. They say she's slept with a few of her brothers._

What would a little kid, certainly one as young as the one in the picture, know about incest? I mean, unless it was more like sexual abuse, but they didn't strike me as those kind of people (but you never know, right?). I'm sure that no one in truth had ever really seen their sister, and it was simply mindless gossip. No wonder Paul hated girls so much.

I looked on from the pictures and headed through yet another archway behind the others into a large living room. Most of it was just empty space surrounded by two couches and a TV set, but on my right was a dark hallway with at least two doors on either side. I ignored it and walked on. Without thinking, Paul parked himself one of the coaches, as he did anywhere he went. The others just sort of stood there awkwardly. I joined Paul on the coach. Ezekiel raised a hand to cup it next to a side of his mouth. "Zack! We've got company!".

We heard a quick set of "booms" rushing across the ceiling. I followed the sounds from above my head to the office. I hadn't noticed the set of stairs on the opposite side of the wall jutting in there. Suddenly I saw a large figure making its way down the steps, and swiftly changing its direction at the bottom. Once it got closer, the figure was clearly defined at yet ANOTHER male member of the Prebisque pack. Like the rest of them, other than Ezekiel, he had long, jet black hair, which he had pulled back into a ponytail. I would say he was barely taller than me, but I couldn't really tell. He wore small-lensed glasses over his eyes; he looked like a sophisticated hippie, to put it short.

Conner walked over to Zack, and it was easy to see the difference between the alpha and the followers: Zack was almost a half a foot taller than anyone in the room. It was like seeing a basketball player jump out of my TV. We all knew werewolf height was a bit extreme, but this was just ridiculous. I waited as Conner introduced us, pointing at us within rhythm of our names being stated, and was the first to stand and shake hands with him. He gripped my hand a little too tightly and gave me a rather stern look. I got the feeling he didn't like me too much. He asked Marcus to go upstairs with him so they could talk privately. He didn't look to happy about it, but he followed him up the steps. Conner stepped into the dark hallway, and I heard a door close. "We can go wait for Marc in our room," Ezekiel said. "He'll be back in a minute. You guys just follow me."

He led us to into the hallway and opened the first door on the left. It was a small room with two beds and one closet. One side of the room looked like a tornado hit it, while the other side looked...well, ok. It was obvious that Marcus and Ezekiel were two completely different people. It honestly didn't shock me when Ezekiel went to sit on the bed on the farther side of the room. The _tidier_ side. The rest of us sat on the floor and immediately started talking.

"Zack's giving him the third degree up there," Ezekiel muttered. "He has no idea you guys are werewolves. Once he gives Marc the chance to speak, things should lighten up." Seth seemed to be a little worried about Marcus. He kept staring up at the ceiling, and Ezekiel assured him he'd be fine. I decided to starts a new conversation.

"So, Ezekiel-"

"You guys can just call me Zeke."

"Ok then. Zeke. How many brothers do you have exactly?"

"Four of them. My sister acts a little boyish sometimes, so I guess you could count that too."

"So who's your other brother then?"

"Mike. He's not home yet. He's picking up Sloan and her friends and they're staying until after dinner."

Sloan…what a weird name. But it was original, so that sort of made it cool. I liked it. Weird was good. "How come we don't see your sister at school?" Embry asked. Of Course: McLovin over here noticed ever girl that walked by him, regardless if they were 3 to 30. Zeke sort of picked up on that and laughed to himself. "She doesn't go to our school. Zack thought it would be best to send her to Herrington." I mentally laughed at the dissatisfaction on Embry's face. I wanted to applaud Zack on his wise decision on where to send his sister.

Because Herrington Episcopal was an all-girls school.

Marcus walked in with an unusually cheery smile on his face. "Zack says once Sloan's friends leave, you can come out of them room." We all sort of laughed at it. I wondered why Zack would be so determined to keep his seven year old sister and her friends protected from a group of teenage boys. I mean, unless he had no interest in having his baby sis imprinted on, but that wasn't likely. Then again, Quil was going to be married to someone who was only three at the moment, so anything was possible.

"Kylee's flying in tonight with Sarge, by the way," Marcus continued. "Zack said don't tell Sloan. He wants it to be a surprise." Seth sat up this time. "Who are they?" Marcus sat himself on the bed on the side of the room that resembled a dumpster. He looked at Seth and smiled a bit. "Kylee is Zack's fiancé. She stayed behind in our home town to clear some things up. Sarge is our dog. We couldn't take him on the plane because the one we booked didn't take dogs, and Sloan refused to wait a few days to get him from a plane that no one we knew could get him from. She's been asking us every day when Kylee'll be coming in with him, and now that he's coming, she'll be absolutely ecstatic."

"Speaking of hometowns," Quil interrupted, "where exactly are you guys from?"

Zeke looked at Quil with a sort of arrogant grin and pulled up the sleeve of his jacket. He had a strange shape drawn on his forearm: a sort of crossover between an oval and a diamond with an upside-down J on either side. I had seen this before on all the posters for the French Club, but I forgot what they had called it. It had "NOLA" written underneath it. Paul immediately recognized it. "So, you guys are from New Orleans." Zeke pulled his sleeve back down and nodded. "That's cool."

New Orleans huh? Screw "just up north," these guys were from more than half way across the continent! No wonder they were wearing jackets. I'm sure, even with the fact of being a werewolf, changing from hot and muggy to what we thought was perfect whether had to difficult to adjust to. These guys were beyond interesting, and I had a ton more I wanted to ask, but I think it was time that we did some answering, and they should ask the questions.

It seemed like Marcus knew what I was thinking. He immediately began asking us everything from everyone in our pack to what was there to do in La Push. They said back where they were from the beaches were to polluted to go to, so they had never truly seen one. I guess that would be one thing we could who them. The conversation lasted about 45 minutes or so until it was cut off by the sound of large tires and a few car doors slamming. We heard the front door and we caught the end of a conversation that was apparently hysterical to those in on the joke. I heard a rougher voice yelling over them to tell Zack they were in. Some footsteps and giggling trampled the floor near their door. Two sets of them faded, and the other kicked the door to the room we were in. "LUCY, I'M HO-OME!," yelled the voice on the other side. Zeke laughed and Marcus threw his voice and answered with a rather dramatic "Oh, Ricky." The voice giggled and ran to the other side of the hall, the door slamming behind it.

I had caught two things out of that voice I heard. One, that it was slightly pubescent for a little kid, and the other I couldn't find a word for it. My thoughts were interrupted by a rather stupid question. To no surprise, Seth was the one to ask it. "Who was that?" Dumbass. Zeke smirked as he answered. "The only girls you will ever see in this house." Marcus looked at Embry, finishing his brother's sentence: "And unfortunately for you, only one of them lives here." As suspected, Embry's face dropped. "You only live with one girl?! DUDE! YOUR LIFE SUCKS!" We all laughed at his thoughts on the subject. Even he laughed at himself.

After a while, the walls started to vibrate from the music being played across the hall. The sounds of three hyper voices barely overlapped the sounds of the boy-band-like pop trash I was hearing louder than anything. It was getting on my last nerve. I specifically heard the line "_I'm a vegetarian and I _ain't_ f**kin scared of him_." Isn't that a little vulgar for a kid? Eventually, Conner's angry voice and some slight banging on the door across the hall to turn down the music rang through the house. The girls obviously couldn't hear it, considering nothing had changed. Marcus and Zeke sighed, pushing themselves up and opened their door. Embry and Seth laughed a bit getting up, Paul stayed where he was, and Quil and I trailed behind the rest. Marcus started off with a few light taps and calling out his sister's name. When that didn't work, he opened the door, the rest of us clustered around him.

"Yo, vegetarian, could you take it down a-WHOA!" I couldn't see much because we were so crowded, but what I could see was clearly NOT a little kid. In fact, all three of them looked about our age. They were all decked out in short skirts, un-tucked Herrington blouses, and lose ties, dancing wildly without a care in the world. Seth stepped back so I could see a bit more, but it didn't work to well. I saw the end of some skirts fly up as they followed the song's instructions to "do the Helen Keller, and talk with your hips." There was a break in lyrics, some squealish-screams, and the sounds of feet running across the floor.

"Dammit, Marcus," it was the voice again. "Don't you know how to knock?!" After this had been said, Marcus swiftly moved a flying shoe that hit the door. A few giggles came from the back of the room. He laughed at the small voice and picked the shoe up. "Don't mind us. We're just enjoying the show," he replied. I could see a small knee bend up and a hand come down, arming her with another shoe. "I don't much appreciate being made a spectacle for you and your perverted friends!" Seth moved a little more for me to see. I had been leaning in so much that I stumbled forward, just in time for my face to block Marcus from the flying shoe. Everyone laughed as I stood myself back up. "Oh my God!

I-I'm so sorry!" She was meek now. Embarrassed. I chuckled and shrugged it off. "It's really no big deal," I said, facing her. "You don't need to-"

Shock flooded through my system as I looked at her. I felt a strange heat run through me. It was nothing like the heat I felt every day. It was a smooth warm , almost like a lit candle. I felt the earth around me pulsing. Her outline, only hers exploded in my head. I fell backwards against the door. I suddenly realized what other word I was going to use to describe the voice:

Angelic.

Words couldn't escape me. I simply ran back to Marcus's room and sat next to Paul, my head between my knees. I honestly felt every emotion possible at one moment: happiness, and yet anger. Joy and guilt. Uplifted, and yet falling.

_Love_ and _hatred_

My head was pounded. Seth rushed to my side immediately, as did Embry and Quil. I didn't care. I was still angry with what I had just done. "Jacob, what's wrong?" Embry…"Dude, answer me."

Seth looked up at him. It took me about five minutes to lift my head and answer. It wasn't their questions I would answer, but my own. Did I really just do what I think I did? Yes.

"I think I imprinted…I think I imprinted on Sloan…"


End file.
